The George Arents Collection comprises two distinct groupings of materials under a single umbrella. The first portion of the collection, the Arents Tobacco Collection, constitutes the largest and most comprehensive library in the world devoted to the history, literature, and lore of tobacco. The collection contains both printed and manuscript works—as well as prints, drawings, and ephemera—dating from 1507 to the present, representing Continental Europe, England, and the Americas.

The other portion of the Arents Collection, the collection of Books in Parts, has been assembled on the principle that the publications therein appeared serially in separate numbers and are still in their original state. Containing over 1,200 items, which date from the 18th to the 20th centuries, it is one of the most important collections of its kind.